Boeing officials land in Chicago

Boeing Co. executives came to Chicago today to say they've selected the city as the aerospace giant's new headquarters. But they offered few specifics on how they made the choice.

Corporate officials flew in a company plane to Midway Airport and landed about 2 p.m. The Boeing 737 -- a white twin-engine jet with red, blue and gold stripes and a corporate logo on its tail -- made a dramatic entrance as it rolled up to where Gov. George Ryan, Mayor Richard Daley, other dignitaries and the news media were waiting.

"This is an exciting moment for Boeing," said Phil Condit, Boeing chairman and chief executive, as jets roared by on a nearby runway. "We are in the midst of transforming our company. We're building a Boeing of the future, a Boeing that will be competitive on a global scale wherever we go."

"We are here not because we wanted to leave Seattle, but because we wanted to build a bigger, more capable Boeing Co.," Condit said. He noted that "it was a difficult decision," and that "in the end, it was my decision."

After reviewing materials gathered by a search committee headed by John Warner, senior vice president and chief administration officer of Boeing, Condit said, "I called John back and said, 'We're going to Chicago.'"

Chicago defeated Dallas-Ft. Worth and Denver in a three-way competition for Boeing, but company officials today were careful to avoid making any negative remarks about the runners-up.

At Midway, Warner said, "Any of these three cities would have worked, including Seattle if it weren't co-located with our commercial airplane headquarters."

Asked to list factors that worked in Chicago's favor, Warner cited the area's business environment, transportation infrastructure and such quality of life issues as education, culture and climate.

Ryan said Boeing's presence here would result in a "110-to-1 return on each dollar the state invests" in incentives to win the company -- by one estimate more than $22 million in income tax breaks, plus millions more in property tax breaks that could be granted by Cook County.

The governor noted Boeing's decision "proves something most of us have known for a long time: Illinois is the best place to do business and grow in the 21st Century."

Ryan thanked leaders of the Illinois congressional delegation, particularly Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Democratic U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, as well as Daley and business, civic, cultural and educational officials who served on the state's Boeing Blue Ribbon Committee.

Daley kept his remarks brief, saying, "I welcome you to our great city. We're very honored and pleased you've selected the city of Chicago."

During a question-and-answer session with reporters, Condit said the new headquarters would house 500 people. Between 300 and 400 of them are expected to transfer from Seattle.

Boeing intends to make the 100 N. Riverside Plaza building downtown its permanent headquarters, Warner said. It is considering Midway Airport, DuPage County Airport in West Chicago and Palwaukee Municipal Airport in Wheeling to base its fleet of corporate jets.

As for the prospects of a Near West Side heliport for Boeing, a subject of much speculation since company officials toured the Chicago area three weeks ago, Daley said the city has talked to Boeing and other potential corporate users, and has identified a number of possible locations.

The city now will work with the Federal Aviation Administration to select a site, Daley said.

The rest of the day's itinerary has Boeing officials taking a helicopter tour of the city, landing at Meigs Field and motoring to 100 N. Riverside to check out their new headquarters.

Word of the company's decision was spreading even before Boeing made its formal announcement at about 10:30 a.m. Chicago time. About a half-hour earlier, Durbin sent his own news release to the media, confirming Boeing's choice. "Boeing made the right decision to locate in Chicago," Durbin said. "A company like Boeing will be a welcome addition to the Chicago community." The company waited until Condit's corporate jet was in the air flying toward Chicago before it sent out its news release telling of its decision.

The events follow several days of militarily precise groundwork conducted with the secrecy of a commando landing on hostile shores. Covert advance teams from Boeing fanned out around Midway on Tuesday as similar teams scouted venues in Denver and Dallas-Ft. Worth.

Boeing hired real estate companies in all three cities so workers could start shopping for homes as soon as the announcement was made. It also prepared three flight plans for Condit's plane, one to each candidate city.

For all the cloak-and-dagger moves, hints that Boeing was leaning toward Chicago started leaking out earlier this week. Both Seattle newspapers reported Wednesday that Chicago was the front runner. The Post-Intelligencer reported this morning on its Web site that Chicago was the pick. CNN and the Associated Press later confirmed the report.